alternative methods to treat reflux - Kim

[Guest guest]

Hi Kim,

I have a friend who's daughter has been suffering the same way since she was

born. She is now 10 months old. Totally by mistake, they found that the rice

cereal was instigating at least part of the problem. They ran out of rice

cereal one day, and her hubby just decided to use oatmeal, instead of

running to the store to get more rice. Hubby never bothered to tell her that

he changed the cereal, so she got oatmeal for several days in a row, and the

change in her behavior was dramatic! When they went back to the rice cereal,

the baby began the screaming, crying, and rigid behavior within hours.

Is your formula milk based? There is a test that can be done, (we had it run

on ) to make sure that your daughter has the correct enzymes to

digest the protein in milk. My son lacks, or has very little of those

enzymes, and it caused similar symptoms in him as a baby.

Could it be possible, that she is allergic to an ingredient in the formula?

The Drs told me that it was impossible for a 2 month old to be allergic to

anything, but this was proven wrong when he was 3 years of age.

Could she be constipated, and only the runny feces are getting by? Were any

of the formulas better than the one you are currently using?

I have no information on whether a fundo can be done without a g-tube, but I

wouldn't see why not. Have they run an upper GI, lower GI, or delayed

gastric emptying study yet?

I'll keep you in my prayers, and I hope things get better soon!

Hugs to all!

Pat (g-ma to , RSS, 28 months, 20# 9oz, 30.1 " , Prevacid, Singulair,

GT)

[Guest guest]

Pat,

You are the 2nd person I have spoken to who said the rice cereal might be the

problem. So, I took it upon myself to try adding oatmeal instead of rice since

this

morning (she has had 3 bottles already). It is too soon to tell if this helps or

not, but

I'll try anything at this point. I spoke with another lady in a baby store that

told me

she added barley instead of rice to her baby's bottle.

's formula is not milk-based. Pregestimil is predigested, even further

broken

down than Nutramigen. Kind of a catch 22 adding cereal to a predigested

formula,

don't ya think? I hope they don't keep her on this for much longer as it is

about $26

per can, which lasts 3.5 days!

I didn't consider whether she was constipated or not. She had no problems

pooping

when on Enfamil or Good Start, only the predigested formulas are causing her to

have

diarrhea. Her poop is a little differnet now with the oatmeal instead of the

rice -

please excuse my grossness!

She did have an upper GI & a pyloric ultrasound. We go back to the GI in a week

and

a half and they said if she wasn't any better they would put her in the hospital

for the

pH probe & gastric emptying scan.

Thanks for your advice and support. This is hard for me to deal with as her

reflux is

worse than my RSS child ever was! We are going to the convention this year.

Are

you? I hope we can meet!

Kim C.

> Hi Kim,

>

> I have a friend who's daughter has been suffering the same way since she was

> born. She is now 10 months old. Totally by mistake, they found that the rice

> cereal was instigating at least part of the problem. They ran out of rice

> cereal one day, and her hubby just decided to use oatmeal, instead of

> running to the store to get more rice. Hubby never bothered to tell her that

> he changed the cereal, so she got oatmeal for several days in a row, and the

> change in her behavior was dramatic! When they went back to the rice cereal,

> the baby began the screaming, crying, and rigid behavior within hours.

>

> Is your formula milk based? There is a test that can be done, (we had it run

> on ) to make sure that your daughter has the correct enzymes to

> digest the protein in milk. My son lacks, or has very little of those

> enzymes, and it caused similar symptoms in him as a baby.

>

> Could it be possible, that she is allergic to an ingredient in the formula?

> The Drs told me that it was impossible for a 2 month old to be allergic to

> anything, but this was proven wrong when he was 3 years of age.

>

> Could she be constipated, and only the runny feces are getting by? Were any

> of the formulas better than the one you are currently using?

>

> I have no information on whether a fundo can be done without a g-tube, but I

> wouldn't see why not. Have they run an upper GI, lower GI, or delayed

> gastric emptying study yet?

>

> I'll keep you in my prayers, and I hope things get better soon!

>

> Hugs to all!

> Pat (g-ma to , RSS, 28 months, 20# 9oz, 30.1 " , Prevacid, Singulair,

> GT)

[Guest guest]

Hi Kim,

Hopefully, something that came to mind before will help. I remember what it

is to feel like nothing is working, and it is the pits!

My friend said to tell you that they have also used barley, and that it

worked as well as oatmeal. So, that might be another option for you. She

said to let you know that it was between 2-4 days to " really " notice a big

difference. She thinks part of that is that her daughter just got so used to

crying and fussing, she didn't know what to do when she had no reason to!

LOL

is on EleCare which is also an elemental, predigested formula. I

know exactly what you're saying about the cost! Luckily, is on WIC,

and whatever they won't provide, Medicaid does, since he is on continuous

feeds by g-tube. I bought an extra can to keep at my house, just in case of

an emergency, and it ran $52.50!!!! Two cans last 3 days!!!

Another thing that was brought to my attention by a friend was that her son

actually suffered from severe cramping from the Reglan when the Drs upped

the dosage. Has always seemed to be in pain, or might you be able to

correlate to an event, like the upping of her Reglan?

We are hoping to make it to the convention. We attended last year, and loved

it. The camaraderie, support, and information were invaluable!! Even hubby,

who isn't a real social kind of person, said that he'd like to go every

year!

Take care, and keep us up on how it goes with !

Pat (g-ma to , RSS, 28 months, 20# 9oz, 30.1 " , Prevacid, Singulair,

GT)